The Witch's Tale
by MissKiriChan
Summary: A series of shorts told from Yuko's perspective. Some deal with her time in xxxHolic, while others explore her past. Current story arc features Yuko's relationship with Clow. Somewhat dark. Ongoing.
1. The Child

_For all of her over-indulgence and comedic asides in xxxHolic, I've always gotten the feeling that Yuko was hiding a great deal of pain. She lived, frozen in time, for what most in the fandom agree is a few centuries as least. _

_These shorts explore that more serious side of Yuko. While she may seem OOC at times, I am trying to stay true to what little we know of Yuko, though I am using a darker interpretation, which might not be appealing to everyone. _

_So, with that in mind, here is the first installment in this series of shorts. As always, the characters are not mine, though I would adopt Mokona in a second. I have no doubt that he and my cat would get along splendidly. _

_Enjoy! _

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><p>She waited, always waited, for the child to return.<p>

Years should have felt like seconds in the span of centuries she had lived, but she felt the flow of time move slowly for the first time since she had been placed in an existence that chased life's shadow.

There was something about the child's eyes that had haunted her, called out to every protective instinct she possessed, but could not act on.

She could not favor this child, but she did. And she knew that would be his undoing.

Even with her ability to see the future, see the mistakes she would make, she knew she would not change them. The dam of emotions, held back so long by the apathy of immortal living, had broken for this solitary mistake of the universe.

She would nurture this mistake into a man that she knew she would come to hate long after she was gone. Selfish and self-absorbed, he would toss aside the very people who were willing to carry him from the depths of his despair to a brighter tomorrow, radiant with everything he had longed for.

Love. Acceptance. It would all be there waiting for him. And he would throw it away because of her.

He would come to love her like the mother he had lost, and she would love him like the child she had never been given the chance to have. They would come together, two anomalies of a world that didn't want them, and feed off each other until they were dry, so lost in the idea of each other that they would become blind to all else.

His presence would warp the very judgment he would look to her to have. He would believe her, trust in her, even as she led him to a destiny he should not have to endure.

But still, she would wait a little longer; wait for the child to come back again, see his confusion at the shop he had seen once before but did not remember. She would play the game, make it look like she had tried just hard enough. And she would know that her last moment, and his last moment, would be spent dwelling on their thoughts of one another.


	2. The Light

_Many thanks to those of you who were so encouraging about the first installment in this series of shorts. I'm definitely excited to explore Yuko's past, as well as her motivation in xxxHolic. _

_So please enjoy this latest short, in which we begin to explore Yuko's past. Oh, and as always, the characters are not mine._

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><p>She had always loved watching the moon.<p>

On clear nights she could see its silvery light create eerie shadows in the pond outside her window, almost as if it was trying to tell a story in the unnaturally still water.

Sometimes she would sit there until the sunrise, pondering the vastness of the world and her place within it.

She would be a pawn, she knew. Daughter to the Emperor's advisor, there was little else she could be. But she couldn't help but feel that she was meant for something more; something far beyond the elaborate walls of her father's estate.

She had something _within_ her.

She could feel it, warm like a steady flame on a tranquil night. If she closed her eyes, it was almost as if she could touch it, like it was holding out its hands to her in the same way the moon's light embraced the landscape despite the infinite distance of blue-black sky.

She wanted to scale the expanse that separated her from those hands.

Be it blessing or curse, she knew she would never be whole without it. It was part of her, and she could not help but feel that it offered a guiding thread to her destiny.


	3. The Wizard

_I'm not too terribly clever this evening, but needless to say, the characters are not mine (though I am totally digging Yuko in ancient Japan). Anyways, enjoy!_

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><p>She knew he wanted her the moment he laid eyes on her. As a lover, yes, but as something deeper. She felt drawn to him, felt the flame within her flicker like it had just been touched by a light breeze.<p>

She had given herself to him, opened herself up until even the little crevices of her being called out for him. He became her world, and he submerged her in bliss until she could no longer tell the waking world from a dream.

He had torn back the curtain of the universe and showed her things she had never imagined. He stoked the tiny flame in her until it became a fire and she too was able to cut away little pieces of existence and see its parts laid bare.

But it was not enough. More, _more_—he always wanted more from her, as if he was a starving man sitting in front of a feast that he could not consume.

He had been alone, unable to share the great and terrible burden of truth with another. She was his panacea, his chance to keep the small part of his humanity that remained.

And so she stretched herself to become what he needed. She contorted herself until she could sit next to him as he explored the unknown realm of the immaterial.

She was dazzled, almost sick from the magnificent beauty. But he just looked on with dead eyes, his only joy found in her amazement.

One day, he would tire of her. But not today. Today he would make love to her slowly after partaking in another miracle that only she could feel.


End file.
